Tag Archives: alan stein

As 2016 winds down, here is a powerful exercise to do with your team… Have each player and coach answer the following 3 questions anonymously on index cards. Have them fill one out for every player and coach on the team (so if you have 14 players and 4 coaches, each person will complete 17 of these index cards). PLAYER ... Read More »

Successful programs have created a palpable culture, sound habits and high standards: Program > Team > Player Players and coaches talk to each other, not at each other. Big difference. No one is perfect. Mistakes will happen on and off the court. Learn from them. Every player and every coach is important to the team and plays a role. Respect ... Read More »

Talent, luck and persistence – pick any two to achieve true success. Talent To some degree, what most people refer to as ‘talent’ is nothing more than passion. If you love to do something… you will do it every chance you can. And the more you do it, the better you get. Now obviously there are several uncontrollable factors that ... Read More »

I realize the landscape of youth and high school basketball has changed drastically over the past 20 years and that players don’t really have a true ‘off-season’ anymore. While my prescriptions for each have been severely modified over the last decade, I still choose to divide the calendar year into 3 phases based on the typical high school season in ... Read More »

While the five starters usually get most of the headlines and shine, in order for a team to maximize it’s true potential…it has to continually develop and maximize the other 10 players on the team. Bench players play an integral role in any team’s success. I’ve been fortunate to sit at the end of the bench at two nationally renowned ... Read More »

Players today are different from they were when I was growing up… and I’m not even that old. I know every generation says that… but it’s true. One of the biggest changes to our society as a whole has been technology… more specifically the internet… and even more specifically… mobile smartphones and social media. What does that have to do ... Read More »

I hated losing when I was a kid and it hasn’t changed now that I am an adult. But losing is a part of life and it is certainly a part of basketball. Without exception, every time two teams take the court, one of them will lose. And this weekend, 48 mens teams lost in the NCAA Tournament, most (if ... Read More »

Be this player… Easy to play with and hard to play against Despite its simplicity, that is a very powerful concept. It is solid advice for players of every age and every level. Make a conscious effort, in every practice and every game, to do all of the things that your teammates love and your opponents hate: Box out ... Read More »